Roush Review: Mirthful Mysteries in ‘The Residence’ and ‘Ludwig’

Like a game of Clue played in America’s most famous D.C. domicile, Netflix’s The Residence is basically Knives Out in the White House. A fluffy confection from Shonda Rhimes‘ company, this whimsical eight-part comedy-mystery is a slapstick Scandal that’s intentionally funny.

In classic whodunit tradition, everyone above and downstairs is a suspect when the White House’s demanding chief usher (Giancarlo Esposito) is found dead in a room of the private residence during a ritzy state dinner for the Australian prime minister. (Kylie Minogue is the entertainment, promised a night in the Lincoln Bedroom for her efforts. Hugh Jackman is also on hand, though barely glimpsed and played by an impersonator.)

The bigger puzzle may be the famed detective brought in to solve the case: consulting investigator Cordelia Cupp (Orange Is the New Black Emmy winner Uzo Aduba), who confounds everyone from the mighty and powerful to the lowliest minion with her peculiar methods. Though she’d rather be indulging her passion for exotic birdwatching, she’s anything but a birdbrain as she gets to work, annoyed yet unfazed by the forlorn and deadpan FBI agent (Randall Park) assigned to shadow her every move and avert what one staffer fears could become “a potentially major diplomatic incident.”

Employing awkward silences, sarcastic asides, impatient eye rolls, and Sherlock-level observational skills, Cupp keeps everyone off balance as she works through the suspect pool, including the gay president’s acerbic mother-in-law (a hilarious Jane Curtin), his slacker brother (Jason Lee), combative chefs (Bronson Pinchot and Star Trek: Discovery‘s Mary Wiseman), and the nervous assistant usher (Susan Kelechi Watson from This Is Us) who hoped to get the top job, just not like this.

The conceit runs a bit thin before Cupp cracks the case (Netflix withheld the final episode from reviewers), but there’s no shortage of guilty scene-stealers in the cast, including former senator Al Franken as the chairman of a Congressional hearing that provides a framework for the silly shenanigans.

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An even more brilliant twist on the mystery-comedy genre comes from jolly England with BritBox’s terrific import Ludwig, starring Peep Show alum David Mitchell as a reluctant sleuth cut from Monk‘s neurotic cloth. He plays socially awkward puzzle-creating master John “Ludwig” Taylor, a recluse who’s jolted from his insular world when his twin brother James, the successful Detective Chief Inspector of a Cambridge police department, suddenly goes missing.

James’ concerned wife Lucy (the always welcome Anna Maxwell Martin) enlists John to step into his brother’s shoes for a risky impersonation. (“Have you heard my small talk?” he laments.) As inept and bumbling with social cues as he is at parking, “Ludwig” enters the police station on an errand to find James’ missing notebook but is quickly swept up into a murder investigation, queasily observing the bloody crime scene and decrying the lack of “order to any of it.”

Until. As you’d expect, John as Ludwig turns out to have a knack for solving tricky cases, as long as he can view them as cryptic puzzles to decipher through logic and deductive reasoning. Motive schmotive when there’s a riddle to crack.

Fans of The Pitt will be delighted to discover Gerran Howell (med student Whitaker) among the solid supporting cast as an eager constable. But this is Mitchell’s show, and he runs with it. Well, as much as a gifted dweeb like Ludwig can run, while maintaining his charade and trying to learn the truth about his absent sibling.

Best news: The BBC has already ordered a second season. (Will Netflix also give its newest gumshoe a longer leash? Stay tuned.)

The Residence, Series Premiere (eight episodes), Thursday, March 20, Netflix (3.5 stars)

Ludwig, Series Premiere (two episodes), Thursday, March 20, BritBox (4 stars)